


First I Love You

by Harmony_Whisper



Series: Firsts [3]
Category: Darkwing Duck (Cartoon 1991)
Genre: M/M, Romance, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Truth
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-06
Updated: 2021-02-06
Packaged: 2021-03-17 19:20:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,470
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29230659
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Harmony_Whisper/pseuds/Harmony_Whisper
Summary: A closed case has put things in perspective for Drake.
Relationships: Drake Mallard/Original Character(s)
Series: Firsts [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1826707
Kudos: 1





	First I Love You

Early morning. A figure curled up in his snug bed in the wonderful comfort that is sleep. It's even better when you are in the throes of a sultry dream. A dream about him, his lover, and the silky sands of a tropical beach caressing them as they make love.

Suddenly a loud ringing sound interrupts the sultry mood and he awakens quickly. Ethan Treadbill's turned to see his cell phone ringing. His heart jumped a little when he recognized it was the ring tone that he had when his boyfriend, Drake Mallard would call. He picked up the phone seconds before it would go to voicemail.

“Hey.” Drake said quietly. “Sorry if I woke you.”

“No it's fine, I am glad you did.” Ethan responded running a hand through his hair. “Everything okay?”

“Yeah.” He said. “Want to go for a ride?”

Ethan smiled.

“When?” He asked.

“Now.” Drake answered.

“Now?” Ethan looked at the clock. It was just after four am.

“I miss you.” Drake said. “Launchpad is back at the house with Gosalyn, so it would just be us.”

Ethan chuckled sweetly.

“I miss you too.” He said. “You solved your case didn't you?”

It was a hard one that kept them apart for almost weeks on end.

“Yes.” He said. “You don't have to though if you are really tired.”

But Ethan was already out of bed and getting dressed.

“I'll be at the bridge in twenty.” He said.

He hung up his cell and all but charged out the door of his apartment. He stopped in his tracks though when the big purple motorcycle was sitting by the entrance where his love sheepishly sat.

“Should have looked out your window.” He said. “I did say now after all.”

Ethan's grin was wider than anything. Drake looked exhausted, the cape, mask, and the tando hat were put away, the purple helmet was replaced with a sleek black one. He had bought it out of sheer vanity, so he would look good when he went on rides with his boyfriend.

Drake tossed him the other helmet.

“You going to stand there or you going to ride with me?”

Ethan put the helmet on and got on the back of the motorcycle. Wrapping his arms around Drake's waist they took off into the chilly autumn morning. It was as if the roads had been cleared for them. They drove out of Duckburg nearing the Audubon Bay Bridge, Darkwing's secret hideout and the entrance to St. Canard.

He stopped by the barriers where the water met the bridge and got off, putting his helmet on the seat. Ethan followed suit and soon they were both leaning on the guard rails just watching out into the water.

“I thought you disappeared with the dawn.” Ethan said.

“I wanted to see you before I did.” Drake said.

“Was it a tough case?”

“A little.” He answered. “It involved a couple, a married couple, jewel thieves.”

Ethan looked at him.

“A married couple?”

Ethan could see that this hadn't been one of Darkwing Duck's common cases.

“Well that's not something you haven't dealt with before.” He said. “Why do you seem so down?”

“They were killed.”

Ethan stood up.

“Did you-.”

Drake shook his head.

“I might as well have.” He said. “I was chasing them by boat when we reached a canal. Somehow they lost control and they crashed into the side. There must have been some sort of a gas leak or malfunction because when it crashed it just exploded. I mean I have been in explosions but this one, it was destructive.”

Ethan approached Drake and wrapped his arm around him, placing his beaked lips on his head.

“You can't blame yourself.” He said. “They should have turned themselves in.”

“I was hiding at their location when I heard it.” He said. “How they told each other they loved one another. You think it's all a scam right? One is going to trick the other with words of false love and then take the jewels for themselves and bail. But as it turns out, that was never the case.”

“How so?”

“This was their last heist, they decided.” He said. “Then they were going to disappear. I didn't believe it until I saw their final moments. I think they knew they were going to go down. The husband kept trying to get the wife out of there, but she wouldn't let go. He relented and they just held each other tight. A final kiss, words I couldn't hear over the motor of my boat, and then...fire.”

“Bonnie and Clyde of the Seas.” Ethan uttered.

“That's what the newspapers called them.” He said. “The story should be out now.”

Ethan just watched as Drake got down from the barrier.

“Taurus Bulba was the only criminal whose death I didn't have any regrets about because after what he did to Gosalyn.” He said. “I just want my criminals to go to prison, to do their time, reform. The only person who I ever had sent to death was Megavolt and I demanded the electric chair because, I knew he wouldn't actually die. He'd survive, heck, probably enjoy it, the court would give up and give him life, and that would be it. I didn't even kill Negaduck even after the island and Gosalyn...”

He put his hands to his head.

“I just didn't want them to die!” Drake proclaimed.

He put his head down as Ethan approached him.

“Some crime fighter I am huh?” He said.

Ethan pulled Drake close to him and held him tight. Drake buried his face in Ethan's shirt clinging to the fabric.

“Good crime fighters don't want to kill.” Ethan said. “They just want to make things better. They know killing isn't going to solve it.”

He pushed Drake away slightly so they were eye to eye.

“You are that kind of crime fighter.” He said. “You shouldn't feel guilty about that couple, but I know you do. They made their choice. They could have done the right thing as you said. Done their time, maybe even get out. Instead they took the cowards way and escaped. They sealed their fate the minute they got in their boat.”

“But I was the one who made them get into that boat.” He said. “With all my Darkwing Duck theatrics and smoke.”

“They would have done the same thing if it was another crime fighter.” Ethan said. “They were going to go down no matter what, whether it was you or someone else.”

Drake said nothing.

“If anything, what you probably couldn't hear was them saying “I love you” to each other one last time before they would depart this world together.”

“I love you.” Drake said.

“Yeah, I bet that is what it was.”

“No, I mean-”

He looked up at Ethan.

“I love you.”

Ethan was taken aback for a moment when he saw the look in Drake's eyes.

“Drake?”

“When they died.” He said. “I realized very well that could be me and there have been a lot of times I have had the experience. I can't give up Darkwing Duck, it's my life. But if that had been me, instead of them, I would have left with so much regret. Leaving Gosalyn, my best friend Launchpad, and...”

Ethan felt himself trembling as Drake looked up at him.

“The man I love.” He said. "I love you Ethan."

Ethan cupped Drake's face in his hands and caressed the soft feathers. He would not cry he kept telling himself. It wasn't the first time a boyfriend said he loved them, but this one, this one person, the sheer fact that it came out of his beak, was the most beautiful thing he had heard.

“I love you too Drake.” He whispered putting their foreheads together exhaling a breath he didn't know he had been holding.

“You do?”

Ethan chuckled.

“Oh so much." He said. "I have loved you since the moment you introduced yourself at McDuck Manor. He said. “I have loved you since the island, since our first date, since, every moment I have been with you.”

Drake kissed him strongly holding him as close as he could.

“So what happens now?” He asked when they parted.

Ethan smiled.

“We just keep riding.” He said.

Drake smiled, took Ethan's hand and led him back to the motorcycle.

“Where to?” He asked.

Ethan smiled.

“Anywhere.” He said.

Drake chuckled.

“I need to see Gosalyn.” He said. “I've missed her. Come back to the house with me?”

Ethan nodded happily as he got onto the back behind Drake. Drake once again turned around and kissed him.

“I love you Ethan.” He said again.

Drake melted as Ethan wrapped his arms around him.

“I love you too.”

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry for being short and tooth rottenly sweet! But it's how I roll! Stay tuned!


End file.
